


We're Cool in College!

by cxnnxrmurphy



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, F/M, M/M, comments help me get motivated :), i dont know what im doing, i wish this would be happier, i'll try and continue though, iM A SLUT FOR COMMENTS, ily all!, im so sorry this is shit, leave comments??, lots of angst im so sorry, lots of flooof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-15 18:43:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12326685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cxnnxrmurphy/pseuds/cxnnxrmurphy
Summary: Basically an AU where some of the Newsies kids and the DEH kids go to college together. Filled with angst, and a hell of a lot of fluff!! Let me know what you think (i'm a slut for comments)





	1. Meeting for the First Time

**Author's Note:**

> here's the first chapter! it will get better, i promise. i just had to introduce all the characters first!

It was the first technical day of college-move in day. The college had just been renovated, so the dorm rooms were a lot bigger-there was a living room and kitchen in the center with 4 or five bedrooms off to the sides. There was nobody in dorm room 21B yet, and it was a five bedroom, 10 person dorm. I guess you could actually call it a living space, which is more accurate than a dorm. Three people were making their way up the stairs, and one of them was nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement. “It’s a ten person dorm, I mean, how much better could that get?” Sloane Dillinger asked as she spun down the hallway, her luggage in tow. Her best friend Allison Hansen just shook her head and laughed as she unlocked the door and entered, her brother Evan following. Sloane’s eyes widened as she took in the dorm room, and she laughed. “This is amazing!” she yelled and walked around the dorm, and then started to look into the rooms. The third one she examined was a shade of light purple, with grey accents. “This is it,” she exclaimed and darted into the room, dragging her stuff. Sloane was for maybe 5’4, but she was athletic. And no matter what she ate, she always managed to stay thin. She had dirty-blond hair pulled back into tight cornrows, and freckles sprinkled across her nose, along with brown eyes and a genuine smile. Allison followed her, shaking her head, but smiling all the same. They’d planned that they would share a room ever since they found out they’d be going to the same college. Allison set her suitcase and bags down and started to unpack. She was short, maybe around 5’1. Sloane always teased her about being shorter, but Allison always reminded Sloane that it was only by a few inches. Allison was honestly purely beautiful. She had curly red hair that was always pulled back, and freckles across her face and arms. She had light brown eyes and a shy smile. She wasn’t athletic like Sloane, but she had a really nice figure. “I’m across from you guys,” Evan said softly as he looked into their room, taking everything in. He was quiet, but really smart-especially in English. He had light brown hair, simply done, and brown, kind eyes. He had a genuine smile, but he didn’t always smile, so it was nice when he did. He had a lot of anxious tics, like fiddling with the bottom of his shirt, like he was doing now. Allison got up and walked over to her brother, and talked to him in a whisper, no doubt saying something to tell him it was gonna be okay. He gave her a brief smile and left the room. 30 minutes later, they were unpacked, and Sloane was bored. “We’re a goddamn hour early, people aren’t gonna get here for another 30 minutes,” Ali told Sloane and fell backward onto the couch. Sloane sighed dramatically and pulled out her phone, updating her parents and friends that she’d arrived and they were early. Somewhere around forty minutes later, they heard a key in the door, and the door opened to the sound of many voices clamoring at once. You could see Evan starting to play with the hem of his shirt again, slightly anxious. Sloane, however, jumped off the top bunk, and jogged out to the kitchen to see everyone. Allison followed her with a deep sigh, and went to Evan’s room to get him first. She kept a steady hand on his shoulder. “We’re okay. Deep breaths, remember?” she told him softly as they walked out after Sloane. By the time they were in the living room, everyone else had spread out to pick rooms, talking excitedly. Sloane, Allison, and Evan took seats in the living room to wait for them to unpack. People slowly filed back in once they were unpacked, taking seats around the room. Sloane supposed it would be good to start with introductions. “I’m Sloane Dillinger, I’m from New Jersey, and…..I’m interested in sports injuries and physical therapy,” she added with a grin, leaning back. Allison sighed and sat up, brushing a lock of red hair out of her face. “I’m Allison Hansen, and I’m from New York, and I’m thinking I’m going to go into creative writing, but I’m not sure,” she said softly, blushing lightly. Evan bit his bottom lip, twisting the hem of his t shirt, and started to speak. “I’m Ev-evan Hansen,” he said softly, and Allison interrupted. “I’m his sister, but I was adopted when I was three,” she clarified. Evan shot a grateful look at his sister and went on. “I’m f-from new york c-city, and I-I’m definitely g-going into some form of English,” he finished and looked down. Allison took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it lightly. “You did fine,” she whispered as she looked at who was going next. It was a girl with long, light brown hair and freckles across her face, with a nice smile. She was taller than Ali and Sloane, that’s for sure, and had a flannel tied around her waist. She had brown eyes, and curiously, earrings in the shape of tiny guitars. “I’m Zoe Murphy, I’m from New York-I think most of us are? And I’m going into music. For jazz,” she clarified with a slight smile. She looked at the girl sitting next to her, who sat up slightly straighter. She had dark skin and long black hair pulled back, as well as brown eyes and a genuine smile. She had glasses on the front of her shirt, but wasn’t wearing them. “I’m Alana Beck, and I’m also from New York City. I’m planning on becoming a lawyer,” she said with a smile. After a few minutes of silence, Alana leaned over and tapped the boy next to her’s arm. His nose was buried in a book, so you could just see the top of his head. “Huh?” he asked, putting a bookmark in the book and closing it. Once he saw everyone looking at him, his eyes widened. “Oh. Sorry. I’m Benjamin Murphy, again, from New York, and I’m going into the music field. For orchestra. Not jazz,” he clarified and reopened his book, but Zoe leaned over and put a hand on his book. “Wait until later,” she admonished. A slight blush rose on Ben’s cheeks. He was most definitely shorter than all the guys there, and rivalled Sloane for height. He had wavy hair brushed to the side, light brown with blond highlights, and hipster glasses, with a perfect smile that came from 4 years of braces. He had on a loose designer t shirt with tight jeans. Ben sighed, but set his book down on the side table carefully. A tall boy sat next to him, arms across his chest, scowling. “Connor Murphy. New York City. I’m going into art,” he mumbled. Zoe gave him a look, that clearly said ‘be sociable’ but Connor just glared at her. He was taller than anyone else there-over 6 feet for sure. He was pale, with a sharp jawline and prominent cheekbones. He had dark wavy hair, down to his shoulders, and piercing blue eyes, one of which was a third brown. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, despite the fact it was early fall, and really warm, and black ripped jeans with black doc martens. He had a hell of a lot of piercings through both ears. There were two people on the couch next to him, who didn’t look anything alike, except for their hats. The first one introduced himself with a lazy smile. “I’m Jack Kelley, and I’m from NYC. I’m goin’ into art, for sets on movies an’ stuff,” he said with a pronounced New York accent. He had black curly hair, and a nice smile. He was tall, but not as tall as Connor. He definitely looked like he lived his life outside, and on the edge of dangerous. He had a blue shirt on, which was unbuttoned at the collar. The boy next to him was watching him as he spoke, but after he finished, the boy tore his gaze away and looked around at everyone else. “I’m Crutchie Morris,” he said, gesturing to a beaten up wooden crutch next to him with a wry smile. “I’m from New York, just like Jack. And I don’t know what my major is gonna be yet, but I’m thinkin’ some form of writin’” he said, his accent just like Jack’s. He was slightly tanned, with a genuine smile and warm brown eyes. He was smaller than Jack in every regard, but not as short as Benjamin. He had on beat up boots, and the laces were coming undone. The last person was sprawled across the couch, feet up on the edge. He had a cigar, unlit, in his mouth, a cocky grin on his face. He had the same hat on as Jack and Crutchie. “I’m Racetrack Higgins. Call me Race,” he said grandly, spreading his arms out with a laugh. Alana looked at him curiously. “Racetrack? That can’t be your birth name,” she said and Race immediately closed up. Jack spoke to Alana softly. “Don’t ask him about that if you can help it, it’s a touchy subject,” he said, giving Race a look that Alana couldn’t decipher. Race sighed deeply. “I’m from New York, and I’m goin’ into dance,” he mumbled. His accent was more pronounced than Jack and Crutchie’s. “And he can’t pronounce oyster,” Crutchie joked, but Race gave him a death glare. “Don’t mention it,” he muttered and Crutchie shifted slightly closer to Jack. “Sorry, Race,” he said quietly, looking down. After a moment of awkward silence, Zoe looked up. “You guys want to order pizza?” she asked with a half smile.


	2. A Conflict Arises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a conflict arises between Connor and the others. Sibling angst and comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay a new chapter, im sorry it took so long oops, updates will be random i guess

A half hour later, nearly everyone was sprawled around the living room, either talking or waiting for the pizza to show up. Benjamin was laying on his back on the floor, immersed in his book again, and Connor was sitting away from everyone, drawing at the desk under the window. Evan was curled up on the side of the couch, writing in a small notebook, twitching at every sudden noise.   
“Pizza’s here!” called Sloane, who had been standing at the door ever since they ordered it. She disappeared outside for a moment, and came back, carrying 3 pizza boxes, a container of chicken, french fries, and a salad. She set the food down on the large dining room table, and everyone got up, except for Ben and Connor.   
“Ben, time to eat” Zoe told her younger brother with a small laugh. He looked up fast, and saw everyone around the table. “Oh, sorry,” he mumbled, blushing yet again, and stood up, coming over to join them.   
After they’d all sat down, Zoe noticed Connor wasn’t coming. “Connor? Finish that later, we have pizza,” she said, looking over at him. Her expression was slightly worried and there was a little fear in her eyes, as if Connor was going to yell at her.  
“I’m not hungry,” he responded.   
“Come on, everyone but you is here,” Zoe retorted and Connor sighed.   
“I told you I’m not fucking hungry, so leave me the fuck alone!” he exclaimed and went back to his drawing.   
Zoe was shaken and Ben just sighed and shook his head. “You tried,” he whispered to Zoe who was sitting next to him. “That’s the best you can do,” he added and wrapped an arm around her shoulders gently.   
Everyone went silent for a moment, until Race sat up slightly straighter. “I’m hungry as hell, so can we stop our little ‘moment of silence’ vigil and eat the damn pizza?” he asked, rolling his eyes. Jack laughed at him and threw a crumpled up napkin over at Race, who sighed and opened the pizza box, serving himself two slices with a half smile.   
Everyone else served themselves and it was quiet for a bit as everyone ate their pizza. After mostly everyone was done (and Race was on his eighth slice), Allison asked a casual question, which she thought was harmless.   
“So, do you all live pretty close to the college?” she asked, not making direct eye contact with anyone in the room.   
“We’re like four hours away,” Jack said with a groan. “It was a freaking awful ride out, especially with this one making comments about my driving the whole way,” he added, gesturing to Race, who just pretended to bow.   
Zoe looked up, still slightly shaken. “Mom and Dad wanted us to be close, if we-if we needed anything,” she stated, and Ben nodded.   
Connor looked up from his drawing. “They wanted to be close so they could get to me if I tried to commit fucking suicide,” he said coldly, giving Zoe a death glare. She got up, hurriedly pushing her chair back from the table, and fled into her room. Ben immediately got up to follow her, but walked over to Connor first and whispered something to him. Connor just looked down and put his head on his arms, tossing his pencil down.   
Ben followed Zoe, but the door was shut. He knocked softly, in an odd pattern, and she opened the door slightly, allowing him to slip inside. Zoe was sitting on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, crying, even though she was trying hard not to. Ben walked over to her without a sound and slid down the wall to sit next to her.   
“Zo, I get it. He’s a total asshole sometimes, but he said he was gonna get better. And he has been. I think he was just really pissed off about something today, you know?” Ben said and Zoe nodded in silence. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back and just let everything go, crying into his shoulder. “It’s okay, Zo. We’re gonna be okay,” Ben promised her.  
At the dinner table, everyone was silent, even Race. Allison got up and started putting the leftovers into boxes inside the fridge, then went back to clear. She brought dishes to the sink and washed them, then put them back into the drawers neatly. “I need to have something to do-it helps me clear my head,” she murmured when Jack looked over at her curiously.   
Slowly, everyone got up and left the dinner table, heading to the living room or to their respective rooms in silence. His eyes widened and he walked over to Allison, his breathing quickening.   
“A-Ali, I can’t d-do this, w-with h-him as m-my room-roommate,” Evan stuttered out, his breaths becoming faster, not quite to the point of hyperventilating. Ali gestured for him to sit down on the tile floor, back to the counter.   
“Ev, we’re gonna figure something out, I promise,” she said and rubbed circles on his back gently. After Evan had finally calmed down, Ali rested her head on his shoulder in silence. “Can you just deal with it today, and we’ll see how that turns out?” she asked him quietly. He nodded in response.   
The whole room was quiet, except for the music that was escaping Race’s headphones. Connor hadn’t moved and he didn’t even look up when Zoe and Ben came back into the room. Ben sat next to Zoe on the couch and opened his book, leaning his head on her shoulder. Zoe gave him a brief hint of a smile and just closed her eyes, taking a deep shaky breath. Ali and Evan joined them about a half-hour later. Evan proceeded to take out his notebook and write, and Allison would occasionally point to something over his shoulder and whisper something to him.


End file.
